1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recreational vehicle and more particularly to a class of vehicles known as go carts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recreational vehicles such as go carts have traditionally been designed to simulate an ordinary passenger car motor vehicle. Such a vehicle has often included front and back wheels where a small horsepower gasoline engine drives the rear wheels and the vehicle is steered by means of a traditional steering wheel linking the front wheels. Such vehicles have been popular even though they operate much as a traditional vehicle and cannot be rotated rapidly for an exciting and thrilling yet safe ride.
Attempts have been made to provide recreational vehicles which will rotate or spin rapidly about a tight radius. One such vehicle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,301 issued to Eyerly intended for use as an amusement ride bumper car. The Eyerly bumper car has longitudinal wheels mounted on a frame and two drive wheels spaced laterally apart and driven by a pair of reversible variable speed hydrostatic transmissions coupled independently to the drive wheels. The electric motor for the vehicle is connected via a rectifier to a plurality of contacts mounted on the car for sliding engagement with floor plates of an amusement ride. Control levers on each side of the operator of the bumper car are moved forward or backward to cause the hydrostatic transmission of each wheel independently to turn in the forward or backward direction.
An object of the present invention is to provide a recreational vehicle which is capable of spinning motion and which may be used by individual owners or by amusement operators.
Another object of the invention is to provide a vehicle for substantially straight forward motion and spinning motion and is powered by a gasoline engine and is not confined to an electrified floor such as bumper cars have been provided.
It is another object of the invention to provide a recreational vehicle in which novel rotational effects are accomplished and in which a traditional steering wheel for steering a vehicle is obviated.
It is another object of this invention to provide a recreational vehicle which is inexpensive yet provides an unusual ride having two kinds of spinning action about either of its drive wheels.
It is another object of the invention to provide a means for simultaneously braking and disengaging the power to each of the two drive wheels of the vehicle.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a novel clutch means by which each drive wheel is disengaged from the engine of the vehicle.